Campus Safety officers earn FBI-LEEDA Trilogy Award

Lt. Kevin Assenat and Lt. April McCadden of Roanoke College’s Office of Campus Safety recently completed the Supervisor Leadership Institute, Command Leadership Institute, and Executive Leadership Institute training programs through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Association (FBI-LEEDA). Completion of all three training programs earned Assenat and McCadden the FBI-LEEDA Trilogy Award. 

The training programs, designed specifically for senior-level law enforcement leaders, engaged Assenat and McCadden in a variety of topics including performance management efficacy, risk management assessment, command discipline and liability, bias and diversity implications, and social and emotional intelligence exploration, among others. 

For their successful completion of the training, Assenat and McCadden received a certificate, a uniform ribbon and a Trilogy pin. However, for both lieutenants, the training reached far beyond tangible accolades. 

Assenat, who has been serving the Office of Campus Safety since 2014, said that the training highlighted an important reminder that relationships and open communication are key components in addressing any emergency. 

“Great emphasis was placed on communication skills and developing emotional intelligence,” said Assenat. “Successful ends to critical incidents or other serious or life-threatening situations often come to a successful resolution in part because of the responding emergency personnel’s ability to communicate expertly and often deescalate the situation.” 

McCadden, a member of the campus safety team since 2016, said the training was “rewarding” in that it addressed all facets of her current position while “pinpointing my strengths and weaknesses as a leader.” 

“I was motivated to enroll in this training because I wanted to better myself in my present position,” McCadden said. “The training stood out to me because it started with teaching [me] how to supervise, then how to command others, and, finally, how to be in the executive role. It all plays into one.” 

Joe Mills, director of campus safety, said that the training provides officers an opportunity to “know themselves better” and acquire “tools in their personal toolboxes.” These skills are especially helpful because campus safety officers assist in a wide variety of student needs throughout any given shift.  

“This type of training better equips officers to work both internally and externally by placing great emphasis on the development of relationships, development of partnerships, credibility, development of emotional intelligence and creating synergy in any environment or community,” said Mills, who also is a graduate of the FBI-LEEDA program. “This training keys heavily on communication skills and in handling any serious situation or critical incident. Effective communication is often paramount in managing an incident to a successful end.”